Mr. JAMES T. BRADY arose and said:

Mr. President, - The regret I feel at taking any part in these solemn proceedings, equally arises from my sorrow at the event which has so recently transpired, and my reluctance to undertake, even in the briefest space, to speak in the presence of my learned and eloquent brethren of that illustrious man who, in my humble judgment, beyond all the members of this bar, was most capable of pronouncing a funeral oration, if the greatest of the earth had fallen. It was, however, deemed appropriate by the committee that something should be said as a tribute to the deceased, by a gentleman belonging to that period of our profession which is a little in the rear of that which furnished the speakers who have preceded me. I hoped to have had the pleasure, and I am sure it would have given the greatest satisfaction to the bar, to hear our brother Stoughton, to whom it was deemed most judicious that this task should be assigned. His eminent qualifications, his high professional position, the active duties performed by him in the Superior Court, and the general capacity which he possesses to interest his hearers, rendered him a fit orator for this time.

But a few minutes remain ere we must leave this chamber, which seems full of the presence of JOHN DUER, radiant yet with his great learning and his benign countenance; but a few moments must elapse ere we leave this chamber to stand, in so much of sorrow as becomes the time, over his honored grave; and I hope no one will be offended if, of these few moments, I appropriate a share in bearing to his memory a tribute, not of learning, not of oratory, but of affection. I hope no one will sorrow if to my humble capacity has been assigned the duty, pleasurable in some degree, but painful beyond its pleasure, of speaking in such terms as I think he deserves, of one whom all my cotemporaries at the bar ought to be proud to have loved and to remember by the dear name of father. Only a few moons have waned, Mr. President, since we were called to grieve over the mortal remains of him whom all of us delighted to call the "Chief”—whom some of us, with a playfulness that even his grave character would not reject, called the "old Chief." It was, sir, a proud title at this bar, and yet how richly deserved. Chief he was, Chief he deserved to be, and Chief he would be in any theatre, at any forum, where the mightiest intellects contended for honorable triumph. But he is gone, gone after a long and useful life, and we may no longer justly repine that he is laid in his "narrow place of rest."

"After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well."

That bereavement, Mr. President and gentlemen, had with it an attending consolation. For the Chief who departed, a worthy successor remained. A place that could not long continue vacant, without direct injury to the community, received the services and the lustre of him, the rays of whose bright intelligence are no longer to visit us except in the "gladsome lights of jurisprudence," reflected from the great memorials of his genius, his industry, and his merit. And I hope, turning from you, learned Judges, to my brethren of the bar, that it may not be considered out of taste or inappropriate, as I know it is not undeserved, for me to say, that even in this new calamity, there is promise of an alleviation that gives us the brightest hopes.

Mr. President, and brethren of the bar, death has so frequently fallen upon our ranks of late, that it has become more familiar than life itself; and yet there is no one who reflects, that can fail to appreciate the appalling character of that circumstance which removes from earth the good, the learned, the useful, the wise. All of us recollect the familiar language of the Latin writer, always trite in the reference, but ever fresh in its lesson ::

"Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres."

There is, Mr. President, a sublime dignity in death, from which we might not be so eager to shrink, if we gave to the soul and its noble aspirations that mastery over the meaner instincts of our nature, or the common instincts of our nature, which sway too largely the destiny of man. And that dignity never appears more graceful than when it descends upon the grave of him who, after a long and useful life, with the staff of unwavering hope in his hand, goes out into the future, and, having himself been a judge on earth, stands in the presence of that other Judge who will rectify all the errors which vice, mistake, or ignorance, may have introduced into mortal tribunals. And thus we see the deceased go from us. Thus we behold him-truthful, confident, courageous, venturing out into that unknown world where we are at liberty to hope that such merit as his will find the reward to which it seems so eminently entitled. Speaking in humble and inadequate phrase for those cotemporaries of mine by whom I see myself surrounded, I ask the privilege of recalling the pleasant days when, in the grand and spacious old room of the Superior Court, we were wont to meet together in those delightful associations which the meanness of a vulgar government has made no longer possible in the city of New York. I refer with pride and gratification, to the chambers in which we made the acquaintance of Thomas J. Oakley-of that other stalwart, noble old chief, the Eldon of his time-of Hoffman, Tallmadge, Sandford, Van

derpool, Emmett, and last, not least, of him whose loss we are called here to mourn. Ah, how many of those Judges have been called away! And ah, how upon the ranks of the profession dreadful demands have been made! The sea as well as the earth has swallowed up our lost companions; and the little band which clustered there, full of the sense of duty, striving for rank and position more than for wealth, how has it been thinned by the touch of the great destroyer! There are others, however, remaining. As to some of them, we see their heads, whitened with the snows of age, moving forward with the deserved pre-eminence they have secured by years of diligent toil. Behind them a rank in which, perhaps, as to years, it is proper I should place myself; and pushing forward with an energy that will entitle them to the high positions they are destined to gain, a young band of companions who, being here to-day, may profit by the teachings of the occasion, and the eloquence that has fallen from gifted lips. Why, Mr. President, there is nothing on earth that is so beneficial to the lawyer as, while engaged in the arduous labors of his profession, to study with unwavering constancy the peculiarities of the Judges before whom he is destined to practice. I have always endeavored to discover in what the merit of the Judge actually consisted, and I have reached one result which, I have do doubt, will prove to be the common experience of my brethren, that respect for a Judge is always inseparable from affection. I know it is the province and the practice, and I claim it is the duty of the bar, freely to criticise the action of the judiciary.

Slavish and useless would that bar be which ever hesitated to exercise this high power; and I am well aware that some of my brethren have, more than once in my hearing, suggested of the venerable deceased that there was in his judicial manner impatience and wilfulness, and that he was opinionated. There never was a greater mistake, as we are admonished to-day by the testimony of our presiding officer. I never could. suppose that the amiable and accomplished gentleman would sustain that character less on than off the bench. It was, indeed, the habit of his mind to seize rapidly on any subject presented for his contemplation. He was a man of genius in the loftiest sense that can be attributed to that mysterious and inexplicable word. He was a man of genius, and the spirit of the advocate which had been lighted up by that genius in his early professional career never quitted him, even on the bench, and it would be flattery to say that this was not one of his characteristics. But he was the high advocate of right, of law, of justice. It is true, that when a case was brought before the bench to be discussed, and there was advanced even one thought that seemed to be the precursor of error coming to cloud or confuse the judicial mind, he never

hesitated to expose and dispel it. It is true that he stood as with a flaming sword, and guarded every entrance by which such error might approach. It is true that his mind caught from the discussion, which elicited sparks of flashing intelligence from the members of the bar, many a ray of parti-colored light. In that respect the gem set within his soul suggested a close comparison to another jewel highly prized among men. It could give back all the tints cast upon it; but it remained still the diamond-brilliant in its pure integrity with its singleness of color and its capacity to diffuse more light than it received. He is gone. To all that was perishable of him, a tearful and eternal adieu. But he has constructed his own monument in the results of his great and enlightened labor, and they stand present to our intellectual vision, covered all over with the lustre of his personal character. Mr. President and brethren, I would feel that I was doing injustice to you, to the subject, and to myself, if I took my seat without expressing one other idea not yet advanced, which forces itself upon me, as I hope it will commend itself to you. We cannot afford, in times like these, to lose from the bench minds like that of JOHN DUer. If one can credit the press, if we can believe the general expression of the community at large, if we can trust the result of our own observation, this state and this country of ours are hastening to a condition, if, indeed, they have not already reached it, which leaves nothing to depend upon for the preservation of life, of character, of property, of any thing that we prize upon earth, but an honest, learned, and fearless judiciary. Existing systems which injure not so much in the mode of selecting Judges as in the administration of their duties when elected, are censured by a large majority of this bar, and I may safely claim, there is little promise, that when a man like Judge DUER is taken away, the successor chosen in popular favor to supply his place will approach him in merit. And you, my brethren of the bar, in view of this sad event which calls us here, ought now to take a fresh resolution into your hearts, and cling to it with undying tenacity, so to labor in this period and in the future, as to guard against the fell influence of that demon worse than death, who strikes down the Judge, not in the period of his physical decay, nor when he is no longer able to increase the prosperity of his fellow-citizens, but assails and destroys him in the midst of his life and usefulness. Let us pledge ourselves, one to the other, that nothing which intellect, association, or industry can accomplish, shall be left untried, so to regulate the future affairs of this state, at least, that when a light is withdrawn from the bench like that just extinguished, the judiciary, the bar, and the community will not be left in darkness or in danger.

The resolutions were then put and carried without dissent, after which Judge Bronson moved that the meeting adjourn to attend the funeral. The motion was carried, and the meeting then adjourned.

THE FUNERAL.

THE members of the bar having adjourned at a quarter before two o'clock, immediately proceeded to Trinity Church, where a large crowd of persons had already assembled. The officiating clergy, pall-bearers, etc., having assembled in the vestry-room, proceeded shortly after two o'clock to the main porch to meet the body, when the mournful procession moved up the aisle in the following order, the organ playing a solemn dirge, while the beautiful opening sentences of the burial services were read by the Rev. Dr. Ogilby :

The choir then sang the anthem, "Lord, let me know my end, and the number of my days," after which the Rev. Mr. Montgomery read the lesson, 1 Cor. xv. 20.

The Rev. Dr. Ogilby then gave out the 129th hymn, which was sung by the choir :

"Rock of ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee."